American Spirit: A Novel

An interesting story, relevant in this age of high unemployment, but by no means an easy read. A bit self indulgent

It took me a while to get into this book – mainly because my husband was going through a similar health scare and it was a little too close to home. I persevered though and was very glad that I had. This book is a well written, very witty tale about Matthew, a forty-something media executive who has hit crisis mode in every aspect of his life; his marriage has broken down, he’s screwed his job up and his health is suffering. Matthew launches on a life-altering escapade that sees him dealing drugs, trying his hand at mug design, a stay in a national park with his friend and two crazy tag-ons. He finds romance in an unlikely place and then manages to screw that up too. This is an absolute hoot of a read, there are plenty of laugh out loud moments – for me, the funniest part was when Matthew is staying in the log cabin and the neighbour is telling him about the bear encounters. Matthew’s thoughts on this are hilarious! I actually did not think I was going to enjoy this book, given what was going on in my own life at the time, but I am so glad I continued with it because it brought much needed laughter to my life at a crazy time. Very well written. Lots of laughs and even when Matthew is being a jerk you cannot help but feel for him. Very poignant too, as the book follows Matthew on his journey of self discovery right through to his operation in Bali. After my initial reluctance I absolutely loved this book and would highly recommend it to everyone. It really is a funny book and brilliant read! ***** 5 stars. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

I completely failed to get into this book. It has long descriptive passages about nothing much going on, and a lead character that says about 4 sentences in the first 4 chapters. I remember reading that people have a tendency to skip to the dialogue and then go back and fill in the descriptive parts afterwards if they are interested enough, basically skim reading the non talking parts. Unfortunately this book doesn't include much talking so I found myself skipping big chunks and not really absorbing what was going on. The author has only written non-fiction books before this point, and while i have never read those books I feel that maybe he is better suited to biographies and such like.

This book started off a bit weirdly and I wasn't sure I was going to get to the end, but I'm so glad I perservered. This is such a dark, dark book and although it's not what would pass for humour for most people, my warped mind found it to be laugh out loud funny at times, and despite the craziness of the situation, I also found it to be pretty realistic - for a total screw up! Totally enjoyed this, despite the sometimes rambling nature of the prose.

The worst book I have tried to read. If this passes for literature I shudder to think. To me it was someone's rambling thoughts with no cohesion and pointless.

I liked the dry wit in this parody of the American Dream. The silly adventures are written with a heavy style that makes it hard going, but worth persevering with. I could identify with a lot of the mindset, which puts the wind up me. The humour is a lead balloon that somehow manages to fly. This story is dealing with a lot of serious issues, using jokes that suit a particular sense of wit. It is black humour, with a rather laboured style. I could empathise with Matthew and a lot of the absurd situations he got into. Who wouldn't want to pee over their work environment at times, especially the computers.

Matthew, a forty-something ad executive, has lost his job after 'The Incident' - his wife doesn't know or even care, so he spends his days drinking and taking prescription medication in the parking lot of a grocery conglomerate. Also, Matthew is pretty sure he is dying and starts living like he is. He goes native, dabbles in drug-dealing, pottery and meditation all the while chain-smoking the eponymous cigarettes and ruing the American dream. Will Matthew get it together? Do we even want him to? Dan Kelly writes as a real straight-shooter, his similes are insightful and witty, peppering the pages with laugh-out-loud moments as we watch Matthew rattle around bankrupting himself. The constant neurotic thought-process the character has is something I am sure everyone will recognise in themselves and hence Matthew really is the everyman generational middle-child, with the self-destructive tendencies to boot. Whilst you root and care for Matthew by the end - his connections with people sometimes grate - it is never really explained how such a fractured character managed to hold it together before he was unleashed on the pages of the book. You might want him to pull himself together at points but often it is more fun watching him tear himself apart - a great dichotomy that holds your intrigue all the way through this 342 page book. There is frequent drug-use, drinking, swearing and some questionable jokes in this, so it may not be for everyone, but I found this a real page-turner. Live or die, I couldn't wait to find out what happens to Matthew and this level of character involvement usually only comes with literature of a higher-calibre. Recommended for an excellent satire of American society that will keep you chuckling throughout.

I first found Dan Kennedy in McSweeneys journal where he has written some of the better articles. In his Book American Spirit Kennedy's character Matthew goes down a spiral from Connecticut cruise control life as a mid six figure media cog. He loses his job; and his life spirals down. At this point the book is rather slow and Matthew's life falls apart; finding humour in mug making and carrying eat pray love everywhere. Stick with the book through these grinding pages; we are being force-fed the early grind of Matthew's unemployed status which makes the second half of the book all the more fun. From those slow early days the story takes Matthew on a Journey over the states; culminating in an epiphany in a national park that gives Matthew the spark to find his way again. The early grid helps you understand Matthew but really does make it hard to turn pages; the little glimmers of Humor kept me going to something that is really quite a gem.

I enjoyed this story, and there are a few quotes in it that really resonated with me. It's a quick read that will remind you how much better you're doing now that the recession is "over". You probably will not enjoy this book if you have no sympathy for people who tend towards self-destructive behavior during times of crisis, or cannot otherwise relate to the fact that some mental and emotional breakdowns are well-earned.

I thought AMERICAN SPIRIT was extraordinary. We follow Matthew, over forty and recently fired, as he struggles to make sense of his current situation and figure out where his life is headed. I loved the rambling, beautiful, insane prose and have never read anything quite like it. Much of the book is hilarious in a can't breathe sort of way, where you chase a spouse around the house reading passages. (My husband heard the author on NPR and within minutes of describing the interview, I'd downloaded the novel.) It was a book I didn't want to put down--not so much even because I wanted to see where the story would go, but because I got caught up in the gorgeous, manic sentences--sentences that just kept going with all this beauty and hilarity and awful truthfulness. "Matthew was nineteen about a month ago, just like you, just like everyone else in America." How delightful and hilarious and depressing is that? Much of the hilarity and also sadness in the novel come from the author's way of writing with this crazy honesty. One reviewer mentions a scene in Yellowstone and was irritated that everything that came before was a lie; I didn't see it like that at all. I found this scene, with Matthew' s moment of clarity when he faces repressed tragedies, so utterly heartbreaking-- heartbreaking because everyone can see something in these pages of sadness, and it just comes at you out of nowhere. This book is wildly funny, parts are sad and there's hopefulness mixed in too. I want to pick it up right up and read it again from page one--there is just so much here and it's an absolute brilliant delight.

I stopped reading this disjointed, depressing, degenerate mess of a story. It's just a downer with no purpose. Better than a stick in the eye? Just barely.

This novel is a must read for any man who, in his late thirties/ early forties, realizes that most of his dreams are not going to come true. In other words, he has been lied to. If you find that you have had to sacrifice your ideals in order to survive in the modern world, and your reward for the sacrifice is the loss of your job, and thusly your security, then you will relate to this book. I want to point out that this book is HILARIOUS. Yes, it is dark, but the choices made by the main character lead him on strange and surreal adventures. I often found myself laughing out loud as I devoured AMERICAN SPIRIT. I held back on rating this novel with five stars mainly because I felt that it ended too quickly. I encourage guys to read AMERICAN SPIRIT because it will help them to realize they are not going crazy, but the world is. You are not alone!

Sorry Dan, I like you on The Moth and I bought this book on the strength of that name recognition however I absolutely hated this book. So much so that I only read about 45 minutes and literally could not force myself to suffer through anymore. I should have read the reviews before I bought this. My main issue was that the "plot" moved at an absolutely glacial place. 99% of the text neither advances the plot nor develops the character. The writer has attempted to entertain us with witty rhetoric and insights into the characters mind but at the cost of the plot. I found that I actively disliked the character because of his self pity and weakness. So, after 45 minutes of reading I hated the main character, there was not plot to speak of and the writing style was self absorbed . Too many good books out there to waste money on this one.